Firm Capital buys stake in Ontario, Quebec shopping malls

RENX  Commercial  •  Retail  •  Greater Montreal, Ottawa

Firm Capital Property Trust (FCD-UN-X) is buying a 50 per cent non-managing interest in six shopping centres for $133 million from First Capital Realty (FCR-T). The portfolio of grocery-anchored malls in Repentigny and Gatineau, Que., and Ottawa, is valued at $266 million.

Downtown Vancouver hospital site for sale

Commercial  •  Vancouver Sun

The St. Paul’s Hospital site in downtown Vancouver is for sale. The site is being marketed by CBRE, which declined to comment on the record because “it’s a deal in progress.” The 6.6-acre site has an assessed value of $784,054,000.

Prima, Merrick propose 47-storey tower for Vancouver

Residential, Commercial  •  Vancouver Courier

Prima Properties and Merrick Architecture have proposed a 47-storey mixed-use tower next to the St. Paul’s Hospital site in downtown Vancouver. The proposal includes 236 market residential units, 50 hotel units or 50 more residential units and ground-level commercial space.

Inside look at Kitchener’s ‘GloveBox’ redevelopment

Commercial  •  Construction Canada

No stranger to adaptive reuse of buildings, the Waterloo, Ont.-based firm of Edge Architects is marrying the old and the new on an ambitious office redevelopment project in downtown Kitchener.

Tricon to pay $1.9B for Starlight U.S. Multi-Family No. 5

RENX  Residential, Commercial  •  Apartments  •  International

Tricon Capital Group (TCN-T) says it will acquire the Starlight U.S. Multi-Family No. 5 Core Fund (STUS-A-X) in an all-share transaction valued at almost $1.9 billion Cdn. The fund comprises 23 multi-family properties totalling 7,289 units located primarily in the U.S. Sun Belt.

CIBC Square’s south tower racing skyward

Commercial  •  Urban Toronto  •  RENX

Asserting itself as the tallest and most prominent office tower to be built in Downtown Toronto since the early 1990s, the 49-storey first phase of Ivanhoé Cambridge and Hines’ CIBC Square office complex is rising quickly across from Scotiabank Arena.

Value: Weighed and Measured › Beware becoming ‘smart’ if we can’t think for ourselves

John Clark: Vice President , The Regional Group of Companies Inc

Confidence trumps concern as Kelowna office towers rise

Commercial  •  Western Investor  •  RENX

For most cities, news the tallest office tower would soon be rising would be cause for celebration. Not Kelowna. “We have an oversupply of office space already,” said Murray Wills, vice-president and managing broker for Colliers International in Kelowna.

Brookfield to acquire Shanghai property for $2.7 billion

Commercial  •  Bloomberg  •  RENX

Brookfield Asset Management (BAM-A-T) is planning to buy a commercial property site in Shanghai for around $2.7 billion Cdn according to sources. The site includes three office towers and a retail mall at Greenland Huangpu Center.

Caisse to acquire 30% stake in U.S. cell tower company

Commercial  •  Montreal Gazette  •  IPE Real Assets  •  Canada Newswire

The Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec has signed a deal to acquire a 30 per cent stake in a private company that owns and operates a large collection of cell towers and other telecommunications infrastructure in the U.S.

Metrolinx acquires 14.5 acres for Hamilton LRT

Commercial  •  CBC  •  Toronto Star

Metrolinx has made its most major purchase for Hamilton light rail transit (LRT) — 14.5 acres  in the west end for a maintenance and storage facility. The purchase comes days after the province gave Metrolinx the nod to start buying property.

Dynamic Funds launches new real estate fund

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire

Dynamic Funds announced the launch of its third liquid alternative offering, Dynamic Real Estate & Infrastructure Income II Fund. This new solution offers investors the compelling diversification benefits of real assets, such as real estate and infrastructure securities.

BTB REIT sells Québec retail property

Commercial  •  Canada Newswire  •  RENX

BTB Real Estate Investment Trust (BTB-UN-T) announced the sale of a retail property (condo) located at 37-Georges-Gagné Blvd. South in Delson, Qué,, for total proceeds of $1.95 million.  This building was adjacent to the Delson property sold earlier this year.

Dalfen Industrial acquires 46 acres in Texas

Commercial  •  Bisnow  •  Globe Newswire

Dalfen Industrial has purchased 45.8 acres in Mesquite, Texas. “This parcel is well-positioned to the major highways and the area has a good future employment base,” said broker John St. Clair, who represented the seller. The price was not disclosed.

Dream Global sells German development site

Commercial  •  Globe Newswire

Dream Global REIT (DRG-UN-T) announced it has entered into a binding agreement to sell its property located in Offenbach am Main, part of the Greater Frankfurt Area. The sale price is $53.1 million Cdn.

REIT financial results:

Commercial  • 

Nexus REIT, (NXR-UN-X), Canada Newswire

Slate Office REIT, (SOT-UN-T), Sedar

Edmonton may back out of suburban development biz

Residential  •  CBC

The City of Edmonton appears to be leaning away from developing suburban neighbourhoods and shifting focus to more central parts of the city. Tuesday, councillors voted unanimously to look at selling greenfield in residential areas.

Trinity College proposes new student residence at U of T

Residential  •  Urban Toronto  •  RENX

University of Toronto’s Trinity College has submitted a rezoning application for a new mixed-use academic building located at 6 Hoskin Ave. 350 university residence beds would be housed on the building’s third through 14th levels, rising above a two-storey academic podium.

Stress test keeping Toronto homebuyers on sidelines: TREB

Residential  •  Financial Post  •  Globe Newswire  •  Globe Newswire

A flattened real estate market in the Greater Toronto Area has the Toronto Real Estate Board again calling for revisions to stricter mortgage stress tests.

B.C. to ban practice of hiding home ownership

Residential  •  CBC  •  Toronto Star  •  Business in Vancouver

The British Columbia government introduced legislation Tuesday aimed at preventing tax evasion and money laundering by shining a spotlight on anonymous real estate owners hiding behind shell and numbered companies.